


Hope's Peak: Gifted Inmates Initiative

by GoldenBeetle321



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:33:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26247985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenBeetle321/pseuds/GoldenBeetle321
Summary: Shuichi Saihara didn't expect to be chosen as the new Ultimate Detective; but his uncle always told him to firmly grasp the opportunities presented to him with both hands. His purpose presents itself as Hope's Peak newest project: The Gifted Inmates Initiative. Now acting as a warden of sorts to his fellow classmates; what is a young detective apprentice supposed to do in a school full of criminals?
Relationships: Akamatsu Kaede & Momota Kaito & Saihara Shuichi, Akamatsu Kaede/Saihara Shuichi, Chabashira Tenko & Yumeno Himiko, Momota Kaito & Saihara Shuichi, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added
Comments: 6
Kudos: 29





	1. Student Files

Name: Akamatsu Kaede  
Gender: Female  
Age: 15  
Date of Birth: March 26  
Talent: Ultimate Pianist  
Height: 167 cm  
Weight: 53 kg  
Blood Type: O  
Convicted For: Breaking & Entering, Thievery  
Pleaded: Innocent  
Notes: Akamatsu remained adamant on being innocent, despite the many pieces of evidence pointing her as the guilty party. Despite this, she has been an upstanding inmate during her time in Juvenile Hall. Hope’s Peak had been scouting her as the Ultimate Pianist before her arrest, after which they briefly discarded her as a potential student before the restart of the Gifted Inmates Initiative led to her being accepted into the program.  
Threat Level: Very Low (1/5)

* * *

Name: Chabashira Tenko  
Gender: Female  
Age: 16  
Date of Birth: January 9  
Talent: Ultimate Aikido Master  
Height: 165 cm  
Weight: 52 kg  
Blood Type: B  
Convicted For: Manslaughter  
Pleaded: Innocent on grounds of Self-Defense  
Notes: As the only known pupil of the creator of the Neo-Aikido Martial Art, which is why Hope’s Peak admitted her into their Gifted Inmates Initiative, it came as a shock when Chabashira strangled a man to death after he allegedly attacked her. Has shown signs of possible PTSD, as well as a strong dislike of the male gender in general.  
Threat Level: Average (3/5), Possibly High (4/5)

* * *

Name: Momota Kaito  
Gender: Male  
Age: 15  
Date of Birth: April 12  
Talent: Ultimate Astronaut  
Height: 184 cm  
Weight: 74 kg  
Blood Type: O  
Convicted For: Forgery  
Pleaded: Guilty  
Notes: Momota made history when he became the first high schooler to be accepted into the astronaut program, unfortunately this also meant that when his forgery was discovered, he was immediately arrested and kicked off the program. The sole fact that he was accepted, however, was enough for Hope’s Peak to accept him into the Gifted Inmates Initiative. If Momota successfully graduates, he’ll be allowed back into the program. He’s currently being treated for lung cancer, but so long as he continues his treatment he shouldn't suffer any complications.  
Threat Level: Low (2/5)

* * *

Name: Yumeno Himiko  
Gender: Female  
Age: 15  
Date of Birth: December 3  
Talent: Ultimate Magician  
Height: 150 cm  
Weight: 39 kg  
Blood Type: O  
Convicted For: Fraud  
Pleaded: Innocent  
Notes: A street performer that scammed several people out of their money. While these kind of cases normally aren’t followed up, Yumeno eventually scammed someone with high enough influence to see her convicted. Her methods, though, attracted Hope’s Peak attention, admitting her as the Ultimate Magician on their Gifted Inmates Initiative.  
Threat Level: Very Low (1/5)

* * *

Shuichi Saihara sighed as he finished reading the Student Files provided to him by the school on his future classmates. All in all, he was pretty lucky that this first batch seems to be relatively tame, as was the intention of the school, most likely. He looked up from the files and into the eyes of his headmaster, sitting behind his desk, patiently waiting for him to finish.

“Well?” the headmaster began “What do you think Saihara-kun?”

“Honestly,” the boy began “I think it could have been much worse. Only time will tell how much better this is though”

“To be expected from a recently born Initiative like this” the headmaster said without missing a beat “Are you sure, however, that you want to do this? You already have a guaranteed spot here in Hope’s Peak. The faculty alone should be enough, and we can find someone else if not, like an older student.”

“I’m sure, sir” Shuichi said, taking a moment before removing his hat so he could look the headmaster directly in the eyes “The whole reason I became a detective was to help people, and this students won’t just open up to their teachers or doctors, but they might to a fellow student. I want to help them.”

If he was being honest with himself, there was also the fact that he still didn’t consider himself worthy of being known as the Ultimate Detective, he just got lucky with one case. But maybe…just maybe…if he can help this students, it will all be worth it.

“Very well then” the headmaster said “The first semester will start on January 18th, you’ll arrive at the island on the 16th so you can get settled in and familiarize yourself with the premises before the other students arrive the next day. We’ll be counting on you to keep them out of trouble in the absence of the faculty.”

Shuichi gulped before looking into the headmaster’s eyes

“I won’t disappoint”


	2. Arrivals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saihara and the staff welcome the Gifted Inmates Academy's first students.

Faraway from the Japanese mainland lays an island known as Keimusho Island. It was recently acquired by Hope’s Peak Academy to serve as the location for their Gifted Inmates Initiative. Hope’s Peak didn’t waste any time, and where once was only jungle now stands the Gifted Inmates Academy. And standing in the middle of the campus is one Shuichi Saihara.

He had arrived here just one day ago, and had already familiarized himself as much as he could with the place, as well as meeting some of the faculty members. Right now, he was just waiting for the other students to arrive, which should be any minute now if the schedule is to be believed.

Standing on either side of him were a short auburn haired woman with hazel eyes and fair skin, as well as a tall brown haired man with green eyes. They were Tsume Amamiya, the resident nurse, and Hiroshi Takahashi, the student councilor.

Just as he started fidgeting with the brim of his hat, he heard the sounds of the helicopter approaching.

Taking a few steps back and keeping a firm grip on his cap so it wouldn’t go flying off, he watched as the helicopter touched down.

The aircraft’s door opened and out of it came a mountain of a man named Dai Yamamoto, the head of security. He had black hair in stylized in a buzzcut and his gray eyes were covered by a pair of sunglasses. Acknowledging the three, he turned to face back into the helicopter.

“Come on out you four”

Saihara gulped as he heard the other passengers shift inside the helicopter before coming out one by one. In an effort to calm his nerves, he mentally recited the most important information of each inmate as they came out.

First was a fair skinned girl, a bit shorter than him with some of her shoulder length blonde hair constantly falling over her pinkish-purple eyes. Despite the slightly tense situation, she had a smile on her face and, he guessed, a excited look in her eyes. She would probably need a hairband or something to help keep her eyes uncovered.

_‘Akamatsu Kaede. Breaking & Entering. Thievery. Threat Level: Very Low’_

After Akamatsu, came a slightly tanned girl with brown, almost green hair and warm green eyes. She was slighlty shorter than Akamatsu. Her eyes scanned the courtyard, narrowing when they passed over him and Takahashi.

_‘Chabashira Tenko. Manslaughter. Threat Level: Average, Potentially High’_

Next, came the sole male of the four, also the tallest. With purple hair and goatee, as well as slightly tanned skin and warm lilac eyes. Much like Akamatsu, a grin threatened to split his face in two as he excitedly looked around.

_‘Momota Kaito. Forgery. Threat Level: Low’_

Finally, the shortest of the four, a slightly pale red-haired girl with reddish-brown eyes. Her half-lidded eyes lazily looked around as she yawned, looking very much like she had just woken up from a nap.

_‘Yumeno Himiko. Fraud. Threat Level: Very Low’_

All four inmates stood in line in front of Saihara and the three faculty members, with matching prison jumpsuits and handcuffs on their wrists. Each of them also had matching gray collars around their necks, with one key difference.

While Akamatsu and Yumeno’s collars had a small blue light, Momota’s had a green one and Chabashira’s a yellow one.

_‘Shock Collars,’_ Saihara recalled _‘one of the compromises the inmates had to make in order to attend the academy. The light marks the threat level, as well as the strength of the shock. Blue is just a small warning, just enough to stop them from the surprise rather than pain. Green is a bit harsher, actually meant to cause pain. Yellow will leave the inmate paralyzed for as long as the electric current keeps flowing. Orange is an upgraded version of yellow, leaving them paralyzed long after the initial shock has passed. Red will just knock them unconscious right off the bat.’_

Fortunately, none of the teens before him had done anything bad enough for them to need anything higher than yellow, though Chabashira would be under close supervision for quite a while. If she commits repeated offenses with no sign of getting better, she’ll be upgraded to orange.

“Welcome everyone!” exclaimed Takahashi, putting on his best smile “Let me be the first to welcome you to the Gifted Inmates Academy, or G.I.A. for short. My name’s Hiroshi Takahashi and I’ll be your student councilor, the big guy that took you here is Dai Yamamoto, our head of security, and the lady beside me is Tsume Amamiya, our resident nurse. We hope you’ll have an enjoyable stay here. Do any of you have any questions you’d like to be answered?”

The inmates were silent for a bit before Momota raised his hands

“Yeah actually,” he adopted a confused and slighlty freaked out expression “What’s with the teddy bears?”

With this, he pointed to the many small bears that were placed around the courtyard, their right side white while the left one was pitch black.

“They’re a little unsettling” Momota continued

_‘That’s an understatement’_ Saihara thought _‘I’ve been here for a whole day and a half and I’m still not used to them…if only that was as weird as it got…’_

“Oh those are just the Nanokumas” Takahashi waved it off with a smile “They are meant to help Yamamoto over here with the security. So long as you don’t break any rules or bother them, they won’t bother you”

Chabashira pointed at him

“And who’s the other menace?” she said with her eyes narrowed

Saihara wasn’t proud of the small nervous squeal that left his mouth when her eyes zeroed on him

“Oh this is just Saihara-kun” Amamiya came to his rescue “He’ll be a student here as well, your Class Representative in fact. If you need to get in contact with the faculty, you can do so through him. Why don’t you present yourself, Saihara-kun?”

Saihara gulped as he adjusted the brim of his cap

“R-right, my name is Shuichi Saihara” he bowed “I hope we can get along”

Yumeno lazily raised her hand

“Not that I care or anything but, aren’t _we_ supposed to choose our Class Rep?”

“If this was a normal school then yes,” Yamamoto answered, before narrowing his eyes beneath his glasses “but considering you’re all criminals, we took some liberties. You’ll find it’s not the only privilege you’ve lost.”

“That’s enough Yamamoto-san” intervened Takahashi with a stern expression “Though he’s not wrong, you’ll have to behave yourselves and prove that you’re truly serious about rehabilitation if you want to have access to plenty of the privileges found around here, such as the pool, or the chance for class trips to the beach and so”

“Now,” Amamiya stepped forward “I’m sure you’re all itching to get out of those handcuffs and jumpsuits so if you’d please, Yamamoto-san”

Yamamoto stepped forward and unlocked the inmates’ cuffs one by one

“Now please follow Saihara-kun, he’ll lead you to your dorms where you’ll find your uniforms. We took a few liberties in customizing them for each of you based on the quizzes we had you take a week ago. We hope you’ll like them. You’ll be free to change them as you please later on, as well as get whichever casual clothes you wish to use for time outside school hours.”

With that the three faculty members started walking towards the main building, leaving Saihara alone with his new classmates. Adjusting his hat nervously, he turned to look at them.

“W-well, if you’ll follow me I’ll show you to the dorm building”

Motioning them to follow him, Saihara turned and walked towards the dorms, the other four following close behind.

They walked mostly in silence, even Akamatsu and Momota didn’t break the silence, despite the fact that they certainly looked the social type. Soon enough, they reached the circular dorm building and entered it.

Inside, they immediately noticed the dorms were divided into left and right sides by a stairwell right in the middle of the building leading to the second floor. Each floor had eight rooms, divided into four rooms per side, which were further divided into two pairs by the windows on each side of the building.

Walking towards the room closest to the center on the right side of the building, Saihara stopped in front of the door.

“Wait here for a moment” he said before taking out a small half black, half white tablet and holding it against a sensor on the side of the door. With a small click, the door unlocked and Saihara went inside.

About two minutes later, he came back out holding a box with four more of those tablets inside.

“These are your Monopads,” the hat-wearing boy explained as he gave them one each“they are your keys to pretty much everything in the school, including bathrooms, changing rooms and your own dorm rooms. The first two are to ensure no male or female goes into the wrong room, while the last one is to give students as much privacy as possible. The faculty members can override it in case of emergency, but otherwise no one can enter another student’s room uninvited”

He could tell the students, Chabashira especially, were glad about that last piece of information.

“Good,” she said with a smile “that means I won’t have to worry about you degenerates trying to sneak into the girls’ bathroom”

“…Anyway,” continued Saihara, not sure how to respond to the green haired girl “there’s more to the Monopads than just being glorified keys, but I’ll explain that later; you should go into your rooms for now and get changed. As Amamiya-san said, you’ll find your customized uniforms in them. I’ll wait for you all here.”

No one moved. Saihara was trying to figure out if he said anything wrong when Akamatsu cleared her throat.

“Ummm, Saihara-kun?” she asked, her hand slightly raised “You haven’t told us which ones are our rooms…”

Saihara facepalmed

“R-right, forgot they haven’t added the nameplates yet…okay so, for reference, this is my room.” he said, gesturing towards the room they were standing in front of “The dorms are divided with the girls on the left side and the boys on the right. Momota-san, your room is the one right beside mine”

“Oh cool, we’re neighbors” Momota grinned, offering Saihara a fist bump, which the shorter boy reluctantly responded to, before going into his room

“Akamatsu-san, your room is the one right across mine” the boy continued, pointing at said room

“Great! Thanks Saihara-kun!” she exclaimed with a bright smile

“N-no problem,” Saihara answered as the blonde made her way towards her room, before turning to the other two “Yumeno-san, your room is right beside the door. Chabashira-san yours is right beside hers.”

“Neighbors!” exclaimed Chabashira

“Nyeh” was all Yumeno said as both girls made their way towards their rooms.

Saihara stood a few minutes outside his room, mentally planning the tour he would give them once all four of them were ready. He would definitely have to show them the Student Shop, as well as their classroom. The Labs would probably be a good idea too. The cafeteria was certainly a must as well. He could wait to show them the gym tomorrow, they would have to head there for the opening ceremony anyway.

The plan ready, he nodded his head just as Momota walked out of his room. If Saihara had to describe his uniform in a single word it would be…eccentric.

He was now wearing a white t-shirt with a kumadori design stamped on it, over which he wore an unbuttoned long sleeved dress shirt. He also wore a long, purple blazer with a galaxy design on the inside of it; but, for some reason, he was only wearing his left sleeve properly, with the right side draping over his shoulder. He wore matching purple pants rolled up to his ankles and, strangely enough he was also wearing slippers in place of shoes.

“Yo, Saihara!” the taller teen exclaimed, walking over to him

“Hey…Momota-san…you like your uniform?” Saihara asked hesitantly

“Hell yeah! This is an outfit worthy of the Luminary of the Stars!” the other teen answered with a fist pump

_‘I’m guessing it’s a fashion statement then..?’_ Saihara thought, a nervous drop of sweat running down his forehead

Just then, Chabashira and Yumeno came out of their rooms.

Chabashira was now sporting a rather pale blue crop top with a white flannel collar and cuffs, a large white bow sitting just underneath it in the center of her chest. She also wore a skirt of the same blue color as her top, as well as white knee high socks and a pair of waraji on her feet.

_‘Guess Momota-san is not the only one with an eccentric choice of footwear…’_ Shuichi thought before turning to look at the shortest girl

Yumeno’s uniform looked the most normal in comparison. She was wearing a black blazer with grey accents, with a grey blouse underneath a brown sweater vest, dark brown tights, and a pleated bubble red skirt. The eccentric footwear trend continued though, since she was wearing brown pointy-toed, medieval-style boots with white ribbons tied around her ankles.

_‘Is there a new fashion trend I’m not aware of?’_ Saihara thought, before hearing the voice of their remaining classmate behind him.

“Sorry I took so long!”

Saihara turned, just for his eyes to widen in surprise. Akamatsu now stood before him, wearing a pinkish off-white dress shirt with an orange tie at her neck, over which she wore a sleeveless pale pink sweater with a darker pink hem and v-neck collar. She was also wearing a short, dark purple skirt, which is patterned with 5 thin black lines with musical notes decorating them. With her purple knee high socks and tan lace-up shoes, she seemed to be the one to finally break the eccentric footwear rule. Her bangs still hung over her eyes, hiding them from view, although her bright smile more than made up for it. She also had a white backpack strapped onto her back.

Saihara only had one thought running through his mind

_‘Great, she’s beautiful. There goes any chance of me not having a nervous breakdown during this tour.’_

Gulping, Saihara averted his eyes as Akamatsu continued

“I was trying to find some hair pins or a band” she sighed, brushing her bangs back only for them to fall back down and obscure her eyes once again, causing her to growl in annoyance “This is infuriating…”

“Um…” Saihara hesitatingly spoke up “I think there might be some in the Student Store”

“Student Store?” all four spoke up

“I’ll show it to you, it’s part of the tour”

“Lead the way, Saihara!” Momota exclaimed, giving him a thumbs-up

With that, the young detective lead his classmates outside the dorm building, and into the courtyard.


	3. The Great Tour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Saihara gives his classmates a tour of the campus

As the group walked into the courtyard, Saihara turned to speak to the others

“Well this is the courtyard, not much to it for most of us right now, although I hear they’ll be adding some new buildings later on. There _is_ something for Chabashira-san, though”

“And what would that be, degenerate?” Chabashira spoke up, narrowing her eyes at him

“Y-you’ll see…” answered Saihara, making sure to hide his eyes from her line of sight with the brim of his cap

He lead his classmates away from the dorms and the main building, crossing over to the opposite side of the courtyard where a small building stood, looking similar to a courtroom.

“This is the Shrine of Judgement,” Saihara explained “it’s where Class Trials are held”

“Class Trials?” questioned Akamatsu, tilting her head to the side while her hands clutched her backpack’s straps “What are those?”

“Well,” he began “due to the minimal staff present in the school, they decided it would be better if we solved our disputes among ourselves; so if any students get into any altercation, it’ll fall on the rest of the students to investigate the case, find the culprit, or culprits, behind it and recommend an appropriate punishment to the staff, so the problem doesn’t escalate”

“So in other words the staff is lazy as hell” Momota concluded

“W-well…I wouldn't put it that way but…” Saihara trailed off, leaving at that

“So…can anyone call for a Class Trial?” Akamatsu asked after a few seconds of silence

“No. Only if the either the majority of the class or a teacher deems it necessary, can a Class Trial be held. Otherwise, it’ll be considered a personal problem and has to be solved between the students involved.”

Seeing no-one else had any questions, Saihara led them to a building to the left of the Shrine of Judgement.

The building looked like the ancient dojo’s you would see in movies, except for the big, unlit, neon sign reading “WELCOME” on top of it.

Chabashira’s eyes went wide at the sight

“I-is that a dojo?” she asked with a hopeful tone in her voice

Saihara smiled

“Yes, this is, in fact, the Ultimate Aikido Master’s Research Lab”

“Research…Lab?” asked Yumeno as she sleepily rubbed her eyes

“Yes, an advantage the students of the G.I.A. have over Hope’s Peak students is that, since there are so few of us, each student has their own Research Lab. Each Lab is customized to fit the student and designed to bring the full potential of their talents. While it’s not a mandatory class, it’s heavily recommended to spend some time in your Labs to hone your talents, since we _will_ be tested on them.” Saihara explained

“So you’re the Ultimate Aikido Master?” Momota asked Chabashira

“Neo-Aikido to be precise! So you better not even think of touching any of the girls inappropriately you degenerate!”

“What is it with you calling us degenerates?!”

“All men are degenerates which Tenko trusts about as far as she can throw them, which is pretty far so your better watch yourself!”

“Okay, okay…” conceded Momota, backing away from the green haired girl with his hands raised

“Unfortunately,” Saihara continued “our Labs are off-limits until the semester officially starts tomorrow, since they’re apparently still adding the final touches. I don’t even know how my own lab looks like and I have been here for a day and a half already.”

“Jeez…” said Akamatsu “now I can only think of what my Lab might look like! Hopefully it has a nice piano.”

“You play the piano?” asked Momota

“Yep,” the girl answered with a big smile on her face “I’m the Ultimate Pianist!”

“Cool, I’m the Ultimate Astronaut!”

“What about you Himiko?” Chabashira excitedly asked the shorter girl

“I’m…the Ultimate Mage…” she said, causing the rest, safe for Chabashira, to stare in bewilderment

“That’s so cool!” exclaimed Chabashira

“…But everyone calls me the Ultimate Magician…” the girl continued, causing the others to nod in understanding

_‘Right’_ Saihara thought _‘the files said she genuinely considered herself a mage. Psych exams said she was fine mentally though, so it’s more of a quirk of hers rather than an actual problem’_

“Okay then,” Saihara spoke up ”that’s about everything in the courtyard for now, so let’s go ahead and into the main building so I can show you the location of the classrooms as well as your Labs and some other important rooms”

He led his classmates back across the courtyard, past the dorms, and into the main building.

“This is the first floor,” Saihara began as they entered the Entrance Hall “our classroom is in this floor, as are the rest of your Labs, the dining hall, gym, and public restrooms”

“All of our Labs are in the same floor?” Momota asked

“Well, we were all the first to be scouted, so it makes sense our Labs would all be in the first floor, don’t you think?” Akamatsu answered

“Exactly,” Saihara confirmed “my Lab is actually all the way up in the fifth floor because I was a last minute addition”

“What is your talent Saihara-kun? You never told us” Akamatsu asked

“W-well…they call me the Ultimate Detective but…I’m just an apprentice. I don’t really think I deserve such a title, specially when there’s another student with the same title over at Hope’s Peak who’s obviously a lot more worthy of it”

“Oh come on Saihara, don’t sell yourself short!” Momota exclaimed

“Yeah, I mean, you were scouted by Hope’s Peak after all. They don’t just let anyone in, you know?” Akamatsu added

Saihara looked at their bright smiles from beneath his hat’s brim before looking away

“Maybe…”

“But what’s an Ultimate Detective doing in a school for criminals?” Chabashira asked, her eyes narrowing once again “You here to keep us in check or something?”

“N-no!” Saihara hurriedly answered “I-it’s just that, you know, this isn’t exactly the, so the Headmaster thought having a fellow student deal with the faculty in your place would put you guys at ease.”

“Tenko doesn’t buy it! You’re here to rat us out as soon as we step out of line! I bet if we even so much as annoy you, you’ll have us punished! There’s no way Tenko is gonna let a degenerate male have control over her like that!”

“N-no! I swear that’s not it!” Saihara’s eyes widened a

“Back off, Chabashira-san!” exclaimed Akamatsu as she stepped in front of Saihara with her arms crossed, frowning at the green haired girl

“Yeah, the guy hasn’t done anything wrong! We can’t just gang up on him because he _might_ do something!” Momota added, stepping forward as well

“And besides, even if he _is_ here to keep us in check; this collars ain’t just accessories you know? We are convicted criminals! Regardless of what led to it, in the eyes of the law we’re criminals who should be in prison! This Academy is our one chance to put start again, we can’t blow it before even the first day!” Akamatsu continued

Chabashira looked like she still wanted to say something, but ultimately just huffed and turned away.

Saihara just stared with wide eyes at the two who had stepped in on his defense.

Yumeno had somehow managed to fall asleep where she stood halfway through the discussion.

After a few seconds of silence, Saihara covered his eyes with the brim of his hat and spoke up, somehow even more quietly than before.

“We should keep going…”

As he walked away from the group, he missed Akamatsu and Momota shooting worried glances at him.

From the Entrance Hall, he led them to the right, all the way to the end of the hallway where a single classroom stood.

“This is our classroom, Classroom A. We’ll have all our classes here so you won’t need to move around.” as he lead them inside, he continued “as you can see, our lockers are inside the classroom so we won’t need to hurry to them to get our material for each class”

Indeed, at the back of the classroom sat five lockers, each with the last name of their respective owner.

“So make sure to bring all your school supplies with you tomorrow so you can leave them here”

With that, Saihara led them out of the classroom and into the nearby stairs.

“This leads to the basement” the boy explained as they walked down the stairs, coming out in a T-shaped hallway

“To the left is what is meant to be the Game Room, but that ain’t ready yet so don’t get your hopes up”

“Aw man!” complained Momota

“Further down the hallway and to the left is another uncompleted room, the AV Room, I believe” Saihara continued

“Is there _anything_ we can actually use in here?” asked Yumeno

“There is, actually. Wether you go to the right from here, or further down the hallway and to the right, you’ll find the doors to the Library.” Saihara explained as he led them towards one such door

Opening it, he led them into the Library.

“It’s a bit disorganized, but you should be able to find just about every book you might need for your studies as well as some for entertainment.”

“This place is huge!” exclaimed Akamatsu as she spun in a circle in order to look at the whole room

“Eh, books aren’t really my style…” said Momota

“Some of this books look pretty old…” observed Yumeno “I might even be able to find some tomes in here”

“You can come back here later if you want” Saihara intervened before they could get carried away “but we should really finish the tour first”

Nodding, the others followed him back to the first floor, where he led them back to the Entrance Hall and past it; going into the left hallway.

As they walked past the restrooms, he said

“These are the public restrooms, so you won’t have to go all the way back to the dorms. As I previously said, your Monopads can only open the door to your respective gender so no need to worry about peeping.”

They kept walking, going past a set of stairs that Saihara explained led to the still unfinished second floor, until eventually coming to a stop on a fork in the hallway.

“Let’s go left first” Saihara told them

To their immediate left, there were two door, one on each side of the hallway.

“The door on the left is the Dining Hall,” Saihara explained “we’ll come back for dinner later anyway so it’s best if we just keep going. On the right is the Student Store.”

As he led them in, they were met by shelves stocked with various goods for sale.

“Maybe I can finally find something to hold my hair back!” exclaimed an excited Akamatsu as she started looking around the store

As the others followed her lead, Saihara decided there wasn’t any harm in letting them check out what the store had to offer. One of them should ask the obvious question should enough.

“Yo Saihara!” Momota exclaimed “How are we even supposed to buy any of this stuff anyway? It’s not as if we have money”

And there it was. Momota’s question caused the girls to also stop on their tracks from where they were browsing through the shelves.

“That’s why everything here is sold on special currency called MonoKoins" answered Saihara, showing them his Monopad where, at the right top corner a small image of a golden coin with an image of a cartoon bear’s head on it.

“This is digital currency that we can gain through school-issued tasks called ‘MonoKuests’ ,” Saihara explained “Each morning, the Headmaster will send up to five MonoKuests to our Monopads for us to do once classes are over, and we can choose whichever we want to do. Up to two students can work together on the same MonoKuest. The amount of MonoKoins awarded depends on the task, and will be immediately sent to the account on your Monopad once you’re done. If you wish to buy something, scan its code with your Monopad and a message asking you if you wish to buy it. Choose the ‘Yes’ option and the cost will be subtracted from your account so you can take it. Needless to say, taking something out of the store without buying it first is against the rules, and trust me, the staff will find out. Of course you can also choose to not do any MonoKuest, but that means no MonoKoins either. Right now, we’re all at zero.”

While the other three nodded, he noticed Akamatsu deflate slightly, looking at the price tag of the small package she was holding.

_'D-did her ahoge just drop?'_

“Thirty MonoKoins…jeez, and I had just found this really cute hairpins shaped like musical notes…”

With nothing else to do in there, the five students stepped out of the Store and back into the hallway.

They walked a little more to the end of the hallway, where they came up to a single door, painted to look like piano keys.

Akamatsu’s expression brightened as soon as she noticed it.

_'It's back...'_

“Saihara-kun, is this..?”

Saihara couldn’t help but smile at her hopeful expression.

“Yes, Akamatsu-san. This is your Lab: the Ultimate Pianist’s Research Lab”

Akamatsu squealed a bit and took a step towards the door before stopping and deflating once again.

“Right…out of limits till tomorrow…”

_'It's gone again!'_

While Saihara debated the existence of expressive hair in hi mind, the other three could only chuckle awkwardly at the girl

“We…should get going” stated Saihara after deciding he rather not know how her hair could do that “Yumeno-san’s Lab is next”

His words actually caused the sleepy girl to look awake for the first time in the whole tour.

They went back to the fork in the hallway, going right this time.

“This is a freaking maze” Momota muttered

They rounded the corner, walking until they came across another door.

“This is it. Yumeno-san’s Ultimate Magician’s Lab” Saihara explained

“I believe you meant Mage”

“R-right…anyway…we should keep going”

They walked down the hallway once again, passing by yet another staircase.

“This one actually leads to Momota-san’s Lab” Saihara commented

“Great! I’ll make sure to check it out tomorrow!” Momota exclaimed with a bright smile

Saihara appreciated that they hadn’t even stopped walking this time around. He just wanted to finish this tour already and lock himself in his room till dinner.

“Finally,” Saihara said as they came to the end of the hallway and yet another door “this is the Gym, P.E. and school events, such as tomorrow’s initiation, are held here. The faculty asked to not enter till tomorrow since they’re preparing something apparently.”

Finally done, Saihara turned to tiredly look at his classmates

“With this, the tour is over. l hope we can all become friends during our stay here. You’re free to walk around campus as much as you want, just don’t go into the restricted areas I told you about and you’ll be fine. I’ll see you all later.”

Having said his piece, Saihara walked off, which slowly sped up as he rounded the corner until it had turned into actual running once he reached the Entrance Hall. He didn’t stop until he reached the safety of his room.

Closing the door behind him, he sighed as he rested his back against it.

“That could have gone better…then again, it could have also been much worse”

What Chabashira had said had actually been one of his main concerns since accepting his position. Many of the other volunteers had initially believed they would be able to do exactly what she had said, only to drop out after hearing they would just be another student but with added responsibility.

While Saihara had never even entertained the. idea of abusing whatever power he had, he had been concerned that that’s how the other students would see it. After all, if so many of Hope’s Peak’s students immediately reached that conclusion, why wouldn’t the inmates who’s freedom quite literally depended on their behavior reach the same conclusion?

Thankfully, it seemed only Chabashira thought so, but things still could have gotten a lot worse. But thanks to those two, it didn’t.

Akamatsu Kaede and Momota Kaito

For some reason, they decided to stand up to Chabashira for him. Logically speaking, it would have made a lot more sense if they had backed her up. And yet, they defended him without a second thought.

“I’m gonna have to find a way to thank them after this…” Saihara muttered to himself, right before getting a notification on his Monopad.

Taking it out, he saw he had somehow gotten 100 MonoKoins. The notification read:

**_‘Congratulations! You survived giving your classmates a tour! You must feel so proud!’_ **

_‘Why do I feel like this is mocking me?’_ thought Saihara with a grimace as he made his way towards his bed

Laying down on it for a few minutes while awaiting for dinner time, he could only think of what might await him once classes officially started tomorrow. Hopefully it wouldn’t be so bad.

_‘And I just jinxed myself, didn’t I?’_


End file.
